Objective
In this project, we will ask parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) about their own lives, including their experiences starting in childhood and into adulthood, to understand how parents’ own experiences can affect their mental health, their children’s mental health, and their children’s diabetes-specific outcomes. Most research on children with T1D focuses on the experiences of the child, but it is also very important to understand the experiences of the parent. With this information, we can not only help children with T1D, but we can also help their parents.
Background Rationale
While parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are more likely to experience mental health challenges than parents of children who do not have T1D, not all parents of children with T1D struggle with their mental health. Most parents of children with T1D do not struggle with their mental health even with the many stressors associated with parenting a child with a chronic illness. When parents experience fewer difficulties, including those related to their mental health, so do their children. Children whose parents experience fewer mental health difficulties also have better diabetes-specific outcomes. Because of these relations, it is very important to understand the experiences that may be influencing parental mental health. Events and experiences that happened as early as when we were growing up can still affect our mental health as adults. This study therefore asks parents about their experiences as children and into adulthood.
Description of Project
While parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are more likely to experience mental health challenges than parents of children who do not have T1D, not all parents struggle with their mental health. In fact, most parents of children with T1D do not struggle with their mental health even with the many stressors associated with parenting a child with a chronic illness. When parents experience fewer difficulties, including those related to their mental health, so do their children. Children whose parents experience fewer mental health difficulties also have better diabetes-specific outcomes. Because of these relations, it is very important to understand the experiences that may affect parents’ mental health.
In this project, we will ask parents of children with T1D about their own lives, including their experiences starting in childhood and into adulthood, to understand how parents’ own experiences can affect their mental health, their children’s mental health, and their children’s diabetes-specific outcomes. Most research on children with T1D focuses on the experiences of the child, but it is also very important to understand the experiences of the parent. With this information, we can not only help children with T1D, but we can also help their parents.
Anticipated Outcome
We expect that parents’ experiences as children and adults will be related to their mental health. Parents who experienced more stressful life events as children and/or adults and experience more stressors related to their race, ethnicity, or income are expected to have worse mental health. On the other hand, we expect that parents who had more positive life events as children and/or as adults will have better mental health. We also expect that parents’ mental health will affect their children’s mental health and diabetes-specific outcomes.
Relevance to T1D
Parenting a child with type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be a very stressful experience and influence parental mental health, which can also influence children’s mental health and their diabetes-specific outcomes. When we understand the experiences that lead to worse mental health among parents, we can address these experiences to help improve their mental health, their children’s mental health, and their children’s diabetes-specific outcomes. We also hope to better understand how so many parents of children with T1D are able to stay resilient – to not struggle with their mental health – in order to help other parents achieve this same outcome in the future.